Day 13
We arrived in Florida.
Got to Phil’s mom’s (Kathy, aka Gramom) house. Kathy and Dave (her husband, aka Poppy) we so thrilled to see Jacob again. Phil’s Gramom Rose (aka Great-Gramom Rose) was also there to see Jacob for the first time.
We gave them the grand tour of the RV and Chelle realized that she didn’t give you, the readers, a tour yet. Here goes…
The RV cab and overhead storage (really a bed, but we put Jacobs big stuff up there along with a few necessities…oh who are we kidding, it’s all necessary)
Here is the kitchen. There is plenty of counter space and lots of storage. The gas oven has about 4 inches of baking space, so no turkeys or anything bigger than a pizza. We also have a microwave, TV, DVD player (didn’t come with it), refrigerator and freezer.
Here is the livingroom. The couch pulls flat for a small (child size) bed. And we keep the dining table in its bed position for Jacob’s port-a-nursery. It’s also a slide out, so you can see that it gives an extra 20 square feet of space when it’s out.
The bathroom is small, but functional. We do the best we can with the abundant storage space. Across from the bathroom is the shower, but we couldn’t get a good picture of it.
And at last, the bedroom. We didn’t know this, but there is a huge storage compartment under the bed. There is also plenty of space above the bed and in the closet. The bed isn’t the most comfortable, but we’ve slept on worse.
So that’s the grand tour. What do you think? Phil’s favorite part of the RV is the grill. It attaches to the side of the RV (called an RVQ). He says it’s not the biggest, but he can take it with him everywhere he goes. Chelle’s favorite part is the storage under the bed. She thinks that’s pretty clever. (Apparently everyone knew about that except her!)
Day 9
So we went shopping at Target, Chelle’s favorite place to shop (really, who doesn’t like Target?). We got some size one Swaddlers (the best diapers in the whole world), and a Baby Einstein teething ring. We let Jacob choose which one he wanted (it was the one he reached for). We also got an oscillating clip-on fan for our “bedroom” and some swim diapers.
Jacob went swimming! Okay, so technically it wasn’t really swimming. Phil held him and walked around the pool. It took a while for Jacob to get used to the water.
And he wasn’t about to let go of his Daddy.
Phil didn’t realize it at that time, but he left his cell phone in his swim trunk pockets. It’s garbage now! If you need to get a hold of us, call Chelle on her cell instead. We also had the home phone re-forwarded to her cell.
After all that, we relaxed. Tomorrow we are off to North Carolina to see Dave (Papaw) & Martha (Mimi) Butler (they are Phil’s Dad’s (Lou) Girlfriend’s (Tess) parents).
Day 8
We walked around DC today…and walked…and walked. Holly was gracious enough to be our tour guide. We would have been lost on the Metro (DC area Subway) without her.
We saw the capitol building, but were too late for the tour (maybe next time).
We were here.
The price of freedom…
We saw the Washington Monument. Chelle didn’t know that people could climb up in there (no, we didn’t).
And of course, we saw the White House.
Jacob did wonderfully the whole time. It was hot and humid, yet he was still a happy boy!
We toured the national Archives.
We saw the Declaration of Independence, as well as other famous documents. We couldn’t take pictures as they do not allow flash photography, but we did pick up some nice mementos.
We did get to see a guy drumming on various items. He was pretty talented!
By the time we left DC, we were tired, aching, and sore. We decided that next time we go to DC, we are spending a whole week so we can take in all the sites and exhibits. There just wasn’t enough time!
So back to Maryland we went. No, we didn’t see another welcome sign, so again, no picture. Chelle is pretty bummed about this.
We finally got to Bill & Stephanie’s house. Haley and Kelsey finally got to meet Jacob.
Stephanie helped hold Jacob and got to see firsthand how he loves to stand up.
Phil and Bill talked after dinner.
We had chicken marinated in raspberry vinaigrette. Chelle thought it was absolutely delicious! It was a warm, humid evening, so we hung out on the porch for a long time. Chelle saw fireflies, which completely amaze her. For the longest time, she thought that they didn’t really exist (we don’t have them on the west coast). She wanted to take a picture of them, but it was just too dark.
We decided to stay one more day and relax…you know, sort of like a vacation…
Jacob didn’t sleep very well. We think that maybe the heat got to him. He was very cranky and couldn’t get settled. Plus, we are pretty sure he’s teething. He won’t stop chewing on things. We are getting him a teething ring tomorrow.
Day 7
We got a late start (go figure). We decided to sleep in, which felt sooooo good. And Jacob slept from midnight until 5:30! We need more nights like that!
We drove through Pennsylvania.
We stopped at a truck stop to update the website. It took 2 hours to get everything uploaded and check our emails. We wish we had more time to respond to emails, but we will soon.
Chelle took a picture of the ‘Welcome to Maryland’ sign, but it turned out really blurry. Phil said we would catch it again when we made our way back to visit his step-sister, Stephanie, and family. We decided to visit our friend Holly in Virginia. We missed the ‘Welcome to Virginia’ sign, but Phil said we would see those signs again too.
So we made use of our streets & trips program and took the scenic route from I-495 to holly’s house. With the GPS, we were able to find back roads with ease. Unfortunately, we had the wrong address. After getting the correct address and directions, we finally got to see Holly, and she got to meet Jacob.
We had dinner with Holly and great conversation. We also met her roommate Kim. She was a total kick in the pants! Great food, great company!
We are finally going to DC tomorrow for the grand tour of our nation’s capitol!
Day 6
We knew that at some point our plans might fall apart, and today was the day…
We finally made it through Michigan and to the Canadian border.
And that’s where the fun ended. They asked a bunch of questions to make sure we were who we said we were and would be okay to cross over the border. It was all fine and dandy until they asked if we were carrying a firearm. We had borrowed a shotgun from our neighbor Phillip Harbin for protection, so of course we said “Yes.” We were asked if it why we were carrying a gun and we answered truthfully. They informed us that weapons weren’t allowed in Canada. Apparently, had we said we had the gun for hunting purposes, we would have been okay. But then, we may have been caught in a lie if they started asking hunting questions. As it was, we were sent over to customs, were they inspected the RV and it’s contents for any other contraband, which took almost an hour, and sent us back to US soil. This is the closest we got to Niagara Falls…
We were understandably upset. This put a pretty major kink in our plans, not to mention the disappointment of not getting to see Niagara Falls, which we kept hearing was a beautiful sight to see. So across the street and back we went. Of course we were sent over to US customs this time so they could inspect the gun (to make sure it was never used in the commission of any crime), which also took an hour, and sent on our way.
Phil was really frustrated about the whole situation, thinking that if he had just said hunting, we would’ve been well on our way. Chelle had to quote Ghostbusters and say, “Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a god, say yes!”
On the way back over the bridge, we were able to take a picture of Lake Huron.
Chelle noticed the flags in the corner and commented about how wonderful the United States is in regards to our right to bear arms.
So, we revamped our plans and decided not to go visit Phil’s gramom in New Jersey (since she’s going to be in Florida when we get there anyway), and to head for Washington DC. This required some backtracking and going through states we weren’t going to see in the original plans.
We went through Ohio.
We stopped at a travel plaza and took this picture of our little RV (and all this time we thought it was huge).
And we let Jacob drive a little.
Just kidding mom!
We stayed the night in a really nice RV Park in Streetsboro. We did laundry and made dinner. Jacob got a bath and slept well. Tomorrow we are off to DC!
